This enzyme is also involved in other conditions as inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

University of Granada researchers have tested melatonin analogues in rats as it inhibits the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which is involved in the development of conditions as inflammatory bowel disease, septic shock or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Some of the new analogues developed by the University of Granada have been tested in vivo in rats and present «very interesting pharmacological properties, as they are much more efficient than melatonin» in inhibiting NOS activity in Parkinson models. Most of the results obtained in this study have been published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that inhibits the central nervous system in rats and humans. Therefore, it is said to have neuroprotective and anticonvulsant properties. These properties give melatonin the ability to inhibit nitric oxide production, as NO is involved in numerous physiological and pathological processes. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate NO production. At present, researchers are trying to «develop powerful and selective inhibitors of each NOS isoform, which would allow clinicians to control specific pathologies, and would help determine the role of the different isoforms in the biological system».

New Inhibitors

The University of Granada researchers that participated in this study work at the Department of Pharmaceutical and Organic Chemistry and the Institute of Biotechnology of the University of Granada. Taking melatonin as a model, the researchers designed and synthesized several families of complexes (kynurenines, kynurenamines and phenyl pyrazolines), which act as NOS inhibitors. The comparative analysis of the structures of these three families of complexes «allows us to determine structure-activity relationships to inhibit the enzyme NOS and develop a model that might be used to design new inhibitors of this enzyme», the researchers state.

Nitric oxide is a very reactive enzyme, has a relatively long mean life and is a non-polar substance, i.e.it easily passes through cell membranes to spread to other tissues and reacts with many different molecules. In addition, it is an important signaling molecule involved in many physiological processes as neurotransmission, blood circulation and pressure, platelet aggregation and inflammation.

A number of studies have confirmed that each NOS isoform is involved in different biological roles. Thus, nNOS is mainly expressed in neural tissue and plays a major role in the production of NO as neurotransmitter; eNOs is mainly found in the vascular endothelium, where it regulates blood pressure and vascular tone.The enzyme iNOS –which expression is mainly induced by activated macrophages and other types of cells is involved in the body defense system. Finally, the mitochondrial isoforms c-mtNOS and i-mtNOS are involved in NO production within the cell and control cell bioenergetics.

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This enzyme is also involved in other conditions as inflammatory bowel disease or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

University of Granada researchers have tested melatonin analogues in rats as it inhibits the enzyme nitric oxide synthase (NOS), which is involved in the development of conditions as inflammatory bowel disease, septic shock or rheumatoid arthritis, as well as in neurodegenerative conditions as Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Some of the new analogues developed by the University of Granada have been tested in vivo in rats and present «very interesting pharmacological properties, as they are much more efficient than melatonin» in inhibiting NOS activity in Parkinson models. Most of the results obtained in this study have been published in Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that inhibits the central nervous system in rats and humans. Therefore, it is said to have neuroprotective and anticonvulsant properties. These properties give melatonin the ability to inhibit nitric oxide production, as NO is involved in numerous physiological and pathological processes. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate NO production. At present, researchers are trying to «develop powerful and selective inhibitors of each NOS isoform, which would allow clinicians to control specific pathologies, and would help determine the role of the different isoforms in the biological system».

New Inhibitors

The University of Granada researchers that participated in this study work at the Department of Pharmaceutical and Organic Chemistry and the Institute of Biotechnology of the University of Granada. Taking melatonin as a model, the researchers designed and synthesized several families of complexes (kynurenines, kynurenamines and phenyl pyrazolines), which act as NOS inhibitors. The comparative analysis of the structures of these three families of complexes «allows us to determine structure-activity relationships to inhibit the enzyme NOS and develop a model that might be used to design new inhibitors of this enzyme», the researchers state.

Nitric oxide is a very reactive enzyme, has a relatively long mean life and is a non-polar substance, i.e.it easily passes through cell membranes to spread to other tissues and reacts with many different molecules. In addition, it is an important signaling molecule involved in many physiological processes as neurotransmission, blood circulation and pressure, platelet aggregation and inflammation.

A number of studies have confirmed that each NOS isoform is involved in different biological roles. Thus, nNOS is mainly expressed in neural tissue and plays a major role in the production of NO as neurotransmitter; eNOs is mainly found in the vascular endothelium, where it regulates blood pressure and vascular tone.The enzyme iNOS –which expression is mainly induced by activated macrophages and other types of cells is involved in the body defense system. Finally, the mitochondrial isoforms c-mtNOS and i-mtNOS are involved in NO production within the cell and control cell bioenergetics.

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This application yields a prediction of urban noise levels using a dataset (street type, road conditions, average speed of the vehicles passing by, road works, etc), with a reliability of 95%.

University of Granada researchers have designed a new software solution to determine noise levels in a street in the future. This new system predicts noise frequency and the type of noise that the inhabitants of a neighborhood will have to endure. This information is of great interest to people interested in buying a new house.

This system is more accurate than the traditional mathematical models employed. This application yields a prediction of urban noise levels using a dataset (street type, road conditions, average speed of the vehicles passing by, road works, etc), with a reliability of 95%. The researchers are currently trying to reduce the number of variables required to produce an accurate forecast of the noise levels in a given area.

The research group «Approximate Reasoning and Artificial Intelligencel» is composed of researchers at the University of Granada Departments of Computer Sciences and Artificial Intelligence, Civil Engineering and Applied Physics. The application of neural networks to the prediction and analysis of urban noise «is a step forward in the field of noise forecasting models». In addition, it will help perform urban noise mapping projects.

State-of-the-Art-Technology

Noise is a global problem and it is considered a pollutant by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Urban planners «need tools for assessing urban noise levels», Natalia Genaro García, one of the authors of this study, explains.

«While many noise forecasting models have been developed in different countries, none of them is accurate enough».

To develop this new system, the researchers analyzed a set of noise data collected in Granada in 2007, although they are collecting further data in other cities «to validate the model». The noise forecasting models employed to date have been based on traditional mathematical methods that predict noise levels using a specific set of data. «This is the first system to apply Soft Computing methods in urban noise assessment», Natalia Genaro remarks, «and there is scarce literature available on this method».

Apart from Natalia Genaro, other researchers participated in this project, namely, Ignacio Requena Ramos (profesor at the University of Granada Department of Computing Sciencies and Artificial Intelligence); Montserrat Zamorano Toro (professor of Civil Engineering); Ángel Ramos Ridao (Department of Civil Engineering) and Diego Pablo Ruiz Padillo y Antonio Torija Martínez (Department of Applied Physics).

The results of this study havebeen partially published in Building and Environment, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America and New Trends on Intelligent Systems and Soft Computing, among others.

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This application yields a prediction of urban noise levels using a dataset (street type, road conditions, average speed of the vehicles passing by, road works, etc), with a reliability of 95%.

University of Granada researchers have designed a new software solution to determine noise levels in a street in the future. This new system predicts noise frequency and the type of noise that the inhabitants of a neighborhood will have to endure. This information is of great interest to people interested in buying a new house.

This system is more accurate than the traditional mathematical models employed. This application yields a prediction of urban noise levels using a dataset (street type, road conditions, average speed of the vehicles passing by, road works, etc), with a reliability of 95%. The researchers are currently trying to reduce the number of variables required to produce an accurate forecast of the noise levels in a given area.

The research group «Approximate Reasoning and Artificial Intelligencel» is composed of researchers at the University of Granada Departments of Computer Sciences and Artificial Intelligence, Civil Engineering and Applied Physics. The application of neural networks to the prediction and analysis of urban noise «is a step forward in the field of noise forecasting models». In addition, it will help perform urban noise mapping projects.

State-of-the-Art-Technology

Noise is a global problem and it is considered a pollutant by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Urban planners «need tools for assessing urban noise levels», Natalia Genaro García, one of the authors of this study, explains.

«While many noise forecasting models have been developed in different countries, none of them is accurate enough».

To develop this new system, the researchers analyzed a set of noise data collected in Granada in 2007, although they are collecting further data in other cities «to validate the model». The noise forecasting models employed to date have been based on traditional mathematical methods that predict noise levels using a specific set of data. «This is the first system to apply Soft Computing methods in urban noise assessment», Natalia Genaro remarks, «and there is scarce literature available on this method».

Apart from Natalia Genaro, other researchers participated in this project, namely, Ignacio Requena Ramos (profesor at the University of Granada Department of Computing Sciencies and Artificial Intelligence); Montserrat Zamorano Toro (professor of Civil Engineering); Ángel Ramos Ridao (Department of Civil Engineering) and Diego Pablo Ruiz Padillo y Antonio Torija Martínez (Department of Applied Physics).

The results of this study havebeen partially published in Building and Environment, The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America and New Trends on Intelligent Systems and Soft Computing, among others.

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